Embracing Diversity: Polish School of Animation Project 2024 Report

The Polish School of Animation project's 2024 year is in full swing. The animation curating and festival screening project (currently having been presented in 42 countries) aims to bring together old masters of Polish Animation and new voices that have a justifiable place in the indie animation canon (and let alone in the Polish animation scene).

It was mostly male voices who predominated in the past of Polish animation. The likes of Jan Lenica, Witold Giersz, Ryszard Czekała, Jerzy Kucia,  Piotr Dumała, and the Oscar-awarded Zbigniew Rybczyński ultimately defined the perception of Poland in the international festival scene.

It is mostly female Polish voices that now predominate in the same scene: from  Wiola Sowa to Marta Pajek, Karolina Specht, Renata Gąsiorowska, Betina Bożek, Paulina Ziółkowska, Marta Magnuska

The aim of the project is also to draw attention to our young artists, to show the huge difference that currently prevails in the animation industry compared to the last century, where men dominated. It emphasizes the huge role of women in the world of animation and the colossal difference in subject matter and gender proportions since the times of the People’s Republic of Poland - Polish School of Animation Project

The project's programme has been presented this year to KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival (London, UK /6-28 March 2024), KABOOM Animation Festival (Utrecht, Amsterdam, The Netherlands / 5-14 April 2024),  Mecal Barcelona International Short and Animation Film Festival / Barcelona, Spain, 27.06-7.07.2024), Cuore di Polonia (Bologna, Italy / 1-7 July 2024), ANIMAPHIX New Contemporary Languages Film Festival (Bagheria, Palermo, Italy, 23-28 July 2024), StopTrik International Film Festival (Maribor, 25-29 September 2024), Thessaloniki Animation Festival (Thessaloniki, Greece, 17-21 October 2024)

Almost all the films have recently traveled individually and won festival prizes during their festival appearance; but reflecting on their joint appearance as part of the same programme is like continuing a discussion that started in the Polish animation scene in the late 1950s-early 1960s and has continued since. 

The full list of films presented:

Male Eye programme

Dom / House, dir. Walerian Borowczyk, Jan Lenica (1958, 11’)
Labirynt / Labyrinth, dir. Jan Lenica (1961, 14’15’’)
Czerwone i czarne / Red and Black, dir. Witold Giersz (1963, 6’30’’)
Wszystko jest liczbą / Everything Is a Number, dir. Stefan Schabenbeck (1966, 7’30’’)
Hobby, dir. Daniel Szczechura (1968, 7’)
Apel / The Roll-Call, dir. Ryszard Czekała (1970, 7’15”)
Droga / Road, dir. Mirosław Kijowicz (1971, 4’30’’)
Jak działa jamniczek / How a Sausage Dog Works, dir. Julian Antonisz (1971, 8’)
Refleksy / Reflection, dir. Jerzy Kucia (1979, 6’)
Tango, dir. Zbigniew Rybczyński (1980, 8’)
Łagodna / A Gentle Spirit, dir. Piotr Dumała (1985, 12’)
Ze światłem / With a Light, dir. Aleksander Sroczyński, Janusz Paszek (1986, 9’21’’)
Śmierć na 5 / A-Grade Death, dir. Mariusz Wilczyński (2002, 3’40’’)
Ichthys, dir. Marek Skrobecki (2005, 15’)
Laska / Stick, dir. Michał Socha (2008, 5’)
Ścieżki nienawiści / Paths of Hate, dir. Damian Nenov (2010, 10’)
Łaźnia / Baths, dir. Tomek Ducki (2013, 4’20’’)
Ziegenort, dir. Tomasz Popakul (2013, 19’)
Hipopotamy / Hippos, dir. Piotr Dumała (2014, 12’30’’)
Łowy / The Hunt, dir. Mateusz Jarmulski (2018, 8’)

Labyrinth

Baths

Female Heart Program

Bankiet / The Banquet, dir. Zofia Oraczewska (1976, 8’15’’)
Refreny / Refrains, dir. Wiola Sowa (2007, 13’15’’)
Drżące trąby / Shivering Trunks, dir. Natalia Brożyńska (2010, 3’)
Nieprawdopodobnie elastyczny człowiek / The Incredibly Elastic Man, dir. Karolina Specht (2013, 5’)
Ab Ovo, dir. Anita Kwiatkowska Naqvi (2013, 5’18’’)
Do serca twego / To Rhy Heart, dir. Ewa Borysewicz (2013, 10’)
Cipka / Pussy, dir. Renata Gąsiorowska (2016, 8’)
O Jezu! / Oh, God!, real/dir.. Betina Bożek (2018, 3’ 48’’)
Kwadratura Koła / Squaring the circle, dir. Karolina Specht (2018, 5’)
Jestem tutaj / I’m Here, dir. Julia Orlik (2020, 15’)
Ciałość / Lushfulness, dir. Weronika Szyma (2020, 5’39’’)
Własne śmieci / Your Own Bullshit, dir. Daria Kopiec (2020, 6’25’’)
Figury niemożliwe i inne historie I / Impossible Figures and other stories I, dir. Marta Pajek (2021, 16’)
3 geNARRACJE / 3 geNARRATIONS, dir. Paulina Ziółkowska (2021, 9’)
Koniunkcja / Misaligned, dir. Marta Magnuska (2023, 7’)

Impossible Figures and Other Stories I

I'm Here

The project is organized by Ioga, Fundacja Promocji Kultury Artystycznej, Filmowej i Audiowizualnej Etiuda&Anima (International Film Festival Etiuda&Anima). It is co-financed by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland from the Culture Promotion Fund and by the Polish Film Institute.

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